How to say "Letter" in Japanese | 手紙

If you are wondering what's the Japanese word for "Letter" you've come to the right place!

the Japanese word for "Letter" is "Tegami", written in japanese as "手紙".

Here's a more detailed explanation:

The Japanese noun '手紙 (てがみ)' means 'letter', referring to a written message typically sent to someone. It is commonly used to describe personal correspondence, such as letters written by hand or typed. For example: I received a letter from my friend「友達から手紙をもらった」(ともだちからてがみをもらった). She writes a letter every week「彼女は毎週手紙を書く」(かのじょはまいしゅうてがみをかく). The word can also imply a sense of thoughtfulness or effort, as it often involves personal communication rather than digital messages.

The Kanji are characters that represent meanings. As you can see, this word is made up of 2 Kanji:

The kanji "手" means "Hand" and can be read as "Shu", "Te" and "Zu". And The kanji "紙" means "Paper" and can be read as "Shi" and "Kami".

Now, let's make sure you understand this word the other way around too.

What does "Tegami" mean in japanese?

"Tegami" means "Letter" .

To learn more about the kanji in this word, checkout this pages:

To make really sure you learn this word, We've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this word and of the characters that comprise it.

But first, you need to know a little bit about Hiragana and Katakana.

Hiragana and katakana are japanese syllabaries, this means that each character represents a syllable.

This are the characters you need to know for this lesson:

The hiragana "し" is read as "shi". The hiragana "て" is read as "te". The hiragana "ず" is read as "zu". The hiragana "か" is read as "ka". The hiragana "み" is read as "mi". And The hiragana "が" is read as "ga".

About kanji, you need to know that most Kanji have two types of readings: Kunyomi, based on native japanese pronunciation. And onyomi, based on chinese pronunciation.